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EFFIGY MOUNDS IN NOKTHERN ILLINOIS. 



That imitative or 'effigy' mounds are to be found in northern and north- 
western Illinois has been asserted from time to time in works treating of the 
remains of the mound-builders; but no one seems hitherto to have gone to 
any great trouble to prove the fact, much less to accurately survey, map and 
publish specimens of them — at least, not so far as I have been able to find out. 

Mr. Lapham, in his well-known work 'Antiquities of Wisconsin' (1855), 
mentions mounds of the 'turtle' form on Rock River as far south as Rock- 
ford, and other animal forms on Apple River in Illinois, a few miles south of 
the State line of Wisconsin. 

In the fifth volume of the 'Geological Survey of Illinois,' A. H. AVorthen, 
director (1873), especial mention is made of ancient mounds at Rockford and 
in its vicinity, particularly the one known as the 'Turtle Mound/ He says 
it resembles an alligator with its head cut off more than it does a turtle. 

The above is all the information I have been able to find in print on the 
subject, though possibly there may have been minor articles in newspapers or 
other periodicals, now as completely lost as the proverbial needle in the hay- 
stack. 

In a tour I made this spring in the region treated of. I looked for mounds 
of this class, and found them scattered at intervals along the Rock River 
valley, and also at points to the westward. I surveyed some of the best 
preserved of them, and here give succinct descriptions of four, which all 
differ from each other in shape, with necessary illustrative diagrams exactly 
drawn to scale from my field-notes. 



From SCIEXCE, Sept. 7, 1888. 



2 EFFIGY MOUNDS IN NORTHERN ILLINOIS. 

The so-called 'Rockford Turtle' (4) in Winnebago County is situated 
between Main Street and Rock River, four blocks north of State Street, in the 
city of Rockford. It is 1841 feet long in a straight line drawn from the tip of 
its tail to the center of the farther end, where a head should be, according to 
onr ideas. It is 3 feet high at the junction of the hind-legs with the 
body, at the junction of the fore-legs and body the average height is 4 feet, 
but from the bottom of a slight swale that passes the head the height is Si- 
feet. In connection with this effigy there is a bird (with one wing demol- 
ished), seven round mounds, and two embankments. These mounds are 
located on the most beautiful spot in the city, and, with one exception, have 
been well preserved by the owners of the land. 




The bird effigy (1) is on the east side of Rock River, some five miles below 
Rockford, on the N.W.i of Sex. 14, T. 43, R. 1, E., in Winnebago County also. 
Its length from top of head to end of tail is 45i feet; and from tip to tip of 
wings, following the centres, it is 68 feet. The height at the junction of the 
wings and body is 2 feet. While this is unquestionably intended to represent 
a bird, yet it is impossible to give it a closer classification. With it there are 
three embankments and two round mounds. The group is situated on a high 
bank some 45 feet above the river, and commands a fine view. 



EFFIGY MOUNDS IN NORTHERN ILLINOIS. 



3 



The animal (3) is on the N.W.i of Sec. 22, T. 26, R, 2, E., some two miles 
below the village of Hanover, in Jo Daviess County, and on the east side of 
Apple River. Its greatest length in an air line is 216 feet, and the average 
height of the body 5| feet. The body and head are on nearly level ground, 
while the legs run down the slope. The fore leg rests on the end of an 
embankment which is 170 feet long and 1 foot high. From the general 
appearance at the connecting point, it is very evident that the animal was 
constructed last. This overlapping of mounds is by no means uncommon in 
the Northwest, and probably may account for the 'amalgamation mounds' 
of some writers. Besides the animal, there are in the same group twenty- 
three round mounds and ten embankments, as well as four other round 
mounds which have 'approaches, 1 or a low embankment, running from each. 

A much less bulky animal (2) is on the S.E.i of Sec. 13, T. 27, R. 9, E., 
some ten miles east of Freeport, Stephenson County, and on the north side of 
Pecatonica River. Its greatest length in an air line is 116! feet, and the 
average height of the body 1£ feet. In the same group with it there is one 
embankment and seven round mounds, three of which are partially demol- 
ished. In one of the latter a fine hematite 'plumb-bob' was unearthed, in 
connection with a human skeleton which was badly decayed. Hematite 
relics in this region, and especially plumb-bobs, are exceedingly rare. 

Near these mounds, but at the foot of the slope, there is a fine boiling 
spring of pure cold water. 

Very few of these Illinois effigy mounds are in a good state of preserva- 
tion; but I looked around long enough to find ten of them worth surveying, of 
which the four now given are the best suited for publication as types. 

In surveying mounds of this class it has been a special object to get their 
true outlines as near as possible, without any preconceived ideas or fanciful 
imaginings as to what animal or other object they were intended to represent. 
To do this it is necessary to determine where the artificial ground ends on the 
natural surface. It is hardly possible, however, for the reader, even with the 
aid of faithful diagrams, to form an adequate idea of the beauty and 
symmetry of the effigies as they appear to the eye when in their undisturbed 
state. T. H. Lewis. 

St. Paul, Minn., July 31, 1888. 




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